The Study Dance
by hepsjam
Summary: One-shot. Lily has to finish her work, James stays up to help her. There's some fluff. Diclaimer: JK Rowling's work, I just mess around with the characters.


Lily and James sat on the common room floor next to the fire. Pages were spread all about them. The last Gryffindor (a sleepy second year) had trudged up to bed more than an hour ago. Earlier, James had found Lily hunched over piles of books, feverishly scribbling the last few lines of her Charms essay. She didn't even pause for a breather before she grabbed her Potion's assignment and started on that, not even putting a full stop at the end of the Charms.

"Stop hovering Potter" she had said, not looking up. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough for one night Evans. You'll make your eyes regress into tiny, damaged little marbles if you carry on like that."

"Go jump off the astronomy tower."

James knelt at her side "Lily."

Lily sighed. "James. I've got to get through this ok? I'm so behind from that trip home and –" she stopped suddenly, her gaze dropping. She returned to her work.

"Is everything ok?" James asked softly.

"No."

James crossed his arms and waited expectantly. Lily closed her eyes. "My dad's worse. He's sick."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I just have to get this done. I've still got to practise that transfiguration McGonagall gave us then do ancient runes then all that head stuff…I'm sorry James, I know I said I'd sort out the patrols and I swear I will, just give me until tomorrow." She dropped her forehead onto the desk. "Come on, Lily" she muttered to herself then straightened out and resumed potions.

James stood up. He grabbed his bag from across the room and dragged a chair over to her table.

"What are you doing?"

"I'll do the head stuff, don't worry about that. You can copy my transfiguration – it's not the best but it's just describing how your wrist moves and so on when you practise the spells so I figure it doesn't need much input anyway –"

"James." He stopped rummaging in his bag and looked at her.

She wanted to say that she was grateful, that he really shouldn't sit with her – she'd be here for hours. But all she said was "You stick with the head stuff. I'll do my own transfiguration." She smiled slightly and picked up her quill. James watched as her quill scratched the parchment and smiled to himself. He took a deep breath in and started organising the patrol schedule.

It was early in the morning and they were just finishing off the detention allocations.

"So Sirius and I flew to London to get some bits and pieces for his motorbike-"

"Sirius has a_ motorbike_?"

Yeah, he got it a while back. So he needed some parts to make it lighter so it would fly faster-"

"It flies?"

James sighed in exasperation. "Yes, it flies. Sirius may be into muggle stuff but he's not going to live without the perks of magic. He calls it 'enchanted enhancement', you know, it goes faster than it should without a bigger engine, that type of thing. He rates muggles will go for it."

Lily blinked. "I'm sure they will. It's oddly thoughtful of Sirius to make muggle devices more efficient for them. Just remember they can't heal by magic so if his crazy _invention_ throws them off – wait, he better not be planning this out as some kind of prank –"

"Relax, Lily" James said, rolling his eyes. "I doubt Sirius will ever open a muggle shop. Although, now that I think of it, it would be a brilliant side business…Sirius could mess with the bikes and-" he stopped at the stern look on Lily's face.

"No muggle shops. Promise." He said sincerely. He ruffled in his bag for a moment and held something out to her. It was a tape.

"Although we can buy from muggle shops right?"

Lily flipped the tape over and hungrily perused the songs, a familiar ache settling into her chest.

James reached back to his hair automatically and nervously looked at Lily's expression. "So we had a drink at the Leaky Cauldron and while we were walking back there was this little battered place on the side of the road and it had a picture of that band you like in the window – with the guy with the hair and the nose,whatshisface"

"Ringo Starr"

"Yeah him, and then I remembered when you said last week that the Saucy Trolls couldn't match up to your muggle music and so I figured that, uh, you should be able to have music you like over here as well. I mean, you can't spend all your time listening to Red Phoenix-"

"Thank you James."

James flushed as Lily looked up from the cover and beamed. She quickly dropped the tape and ran up the stairs. James didn't even have time to register what had just happened before she was back and holding a mini tape player.

"You do the honours" she said.

James gently took the tape out of its cover and placed it in the machine.

_Hotel of California_ started playing and Lily chuckled. "Oh this feels so good…like home."

"Huh. Not bad taste, Lil. Although they're missing that _magic_ touch…"

"Oh please. "

They were lying on the couch listening to the songs play over and over again. Lily checked her watch and yawned. "I'm never going to be able to get up in the morning."

"You mean in a few hours. Why not make a night of it?"

Lily stretched and sat up. "I should go to bed."

She walked across the dormitory. James got up too. "Thank you James, for spending the night with me."

"Anytime, Lils. It kind of forced me to do some work of my own."

Lily rolled her eyes.

The starting notes of 'You Shook Me All Night Long' by AC/DC floated across the room, the static making the tape sound like an old record. James cocked his ear to listen. Lily crossed her arms, smiling while shaking her head. James lifted an eyebrow and motioned for her to come over, an easy smile edging up the one side of his face. As the beat picked up he bobbed his head and closed his eyes, biting his lip while feeling the music. Lily laughed. He mimed the air guitar and sang with the music

_She was a fast machine_

_She kept her motor clean_

_Was the best damn woman that I ever seen_

Lily sighed and unfolded her arms.

James cocked his head towards her, eyes sparkling mischievously.

_'Cause the walls started shaking,  
The earth was quaking,_

Lily had to move her arms – it was an inborn instinct. She swayed her hips and soon both were yelling

_You...Shook me all night long_

The two shook their heads and danced like nutters. Lily swung her head around, her hair sailing around her face and James couldn't take his eyes off her.

It turned out that James had found quite a number of muggle tapes because they danced into the early morning, the stars bright outside, a crescent moon waning in the distance.

Lily collapsed on the couch. James fell into her, laughing.

"Your books teach you to how to let loose, Evans?"

"Your broom teaches you how to every time you fall off it, Potter."

"I'm never de-broomed. Now you've danced down here maybe you can try it up there sometime."

"With you? I'm not _that_ wild."

"Wouldn't hurt."

She sighed. "Yeah, but I don't dothis. I don't dance in front of random boys. Merlin, I must be delirious with sleep deprivation."

He smirked. "I'm not a random boy, I'm a man."

She snorted in amusement. James mock- scowled as he gingerly sat up next to her. "Come on, you don't naked dance once in a while?"

Her jaw dropped open "I can't believe you just asked me that." She smirked mysteriously "but I can't fathom how you knew."

James had to fight to keep the shock off his face. He had expected her to deny it vehemently. This other side of Lily spun his mind in circles. He couldn't tease her on her lack of embarrassing deeds anymore. Oddly though, he found himself liking this Lily even more than his Lily, if that was even possible. He quickly recovered and lounged back, stretching his arms above his head.

"I once rode to Italy naked"

"On a broom?"

He winced. "On Sirius's motorbike."

"You flew to Italy?" She raised her eyebrows disbelievingly. "What did they say when you arrived?"

"Well I sort of crash landed in someone's back garden. As I stood up, a little old lady opened the door."

"Oh, dear"

"She stared at me for a second then bellowed to her husband, who came barrelling in from the shed at the front of the house. He didn't even glance at me, turns out he was partially blind, and asks her what she wants. She gestures to me and he turns to squint in my general direction and they proceed to yell at each other, hands flying, me just standing there, checking out the roses."

Lily chuckled.

"And then, if you will, the man stands right next to me and examines the bike. The lady totters out and grabs my arm, says "no more bike" and steers me into the house. Then she makes me lunch. Lily, I'm sitting there and I swear she's also blind because she doesn't blink an eyelid until Sirius comes through the door escorted by the old guy, who huffs and leaves, muttering to himself. Sirius, the git, goes "you sat on my bike naked?" and the poor woman yelps and swats Sirius over the head with her rolling pin going, 'you naked pig, get out, get out!' and Sirius, fully clothed, is chased out of the house, leaving me eating my spaghetti bolognaise."

Lily clutched her belly, shaking with laughter. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "Only you, James…Sirius must have been mad"

"Oh, he was until he made me ride the bike back home that night and the wind had a distinct chill. He got over it when he found out that Remus and Peter had won a bet and made me do it as payment."

"I wish I did stuff like that."

"Seriously, Evans it's not all that great, especially when you get caught."

"And that's stopped you so many times before."

"Well, without the suspense it wouldn't be half as fun."

"I never do anything, though. I play by the rules, always have. Sometimes I wish I could pluck up the courage to do more."

James looked at her seriously, his hazel eyes delving into her own, searching her soul. A cool breeze drifted in through the window.

"You danced like a madman tonight, that's something."

"I know, it's just…"

"You can't be a rebel, Lily."

"I could-"

"No, I meant that you can't because you're Lily. Don't wish for what other people do with their lives. You're Lily. You're smart and serious but you've also got a Tazmanian-devil temper and you do crazy things that nobody expects, so when you do act out, it makes you more you. You've got all who you want to be inside of you."

"Sometimes I know that. But then sometimes I wish I acted on my crazy impulses more. I want a life of nutty memories, not only pages of endless textbooks."

James nodded in understanding. He got up and moved to the window and looked out at the moon, the morning light just becoming visible on the horizon. He thought of the more crazy things he had done with the Marauders and wondered if Lily knew any of the fun late night whispered planning with a mad bunch of best friends offered. Did her friends even do insane stuff or did their exploits revolve around the occasional Hogsmeade trip?

Lily coughed. James turned and studied her profile from where he stood, back against the window, the clouds faintly shimmering behind him. She rested her head against her arm where it lay on the armrest of the couch. Every few minutes she would touch her hair, or nose, or trace patterns on the seat with her free hand. Her normally dark red hair caught the light of dawn and little gold streaks appeared, seemingly waltzing amongst the darker strands. It was silent now, only the sound of birds awakening breaking the dead of night.

James walked over to the couch.

He stood in front of Lily and offered his hand to her wordlessly. She stared at it for a while before hesitantly placing her hand in his. He pulled her close and wound his arm around her waist, still holding her hand in his. Her other hand flattened against his chest. She could feel his heartbeat, beating steadily against her palm. He slowly guided her as they danced until they swayed in a small circle opposite the window. Lily laid her head against his chest and listened to the faint song of Fawkes on his morning hunt, the beautiful but powerful melody harmonising with James's breathing. He closed his eyes and let go of her hand. Carefully he encircled her in his arms and she sank into the hug, feeling more comforted than she had felt in a long time. At that moment, the sun spilled over the horizon and they were bathed in golden light.

Lily took a step back and looked into the warm eyes of James Potter. They weren't arrogant or hard like they could sometimes be, not flashing with anger and some unrevealed emotions as they did when they fought, but rather they calmly gazed down at her, framed by dark bags under his eyes. He shifted slightly and kissed her forehead. She stiffened for a second, a blush creeping up her neck. James could feel the tension in her back and slowly released her.

Lily didn't want to be released. She wanted to stay like that forever.

They stood facing each other, James's eyes hurt but rueful. He nodded once to himself then smiled slightly.

"I saw the beginnings of the sunrise and thought that you could use some new memories...even if it's not crazy right now" he murmured, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

"Dancing with James Potter through the night is one for the books though – one of the maddest things I've ever done." She smiled.

He reached back to mess up his hair. Almost instinctually she reached up to grab his hand. His fingers stilled. "I hate it when you do that." Lily said softly. He let his hand slide back down, coming to rest on Lily's shoulder. She had never run her hands through his hair before and it felt oddly soothing for a moment before she realised that her face was inches away from James's. Lily's startling green eyes smouldered under her eyelashes and James automatically slid his hand down her arm. She shivered. She let her hand rest at the nape of his neck and looked at him curiously, something unrecognisable flashing in her eyes.

Lily looked at James, something new boiling inside of her like molten lava and she finally admitted something to herself.

As the realisation hit her, her eyes flashed suddenly.

And then he was kissing her.

His arms held her tightly, her arms hooked around his neck.

"Now this is the maddest thing _I've _ever done" whispered James.

Lily laughed and then they were dancing again, lightly stepping to a new tune, him twirling her around and around, both smiling hugely in the warmth of the spring morning.


End file.
